“Kibwe lives as part of an African tribe and has a happy existence – until one night he is kidnapped by guerrillas. Suddenly he is in the hands of bloodthirsty men who train him to kill. For a whole year Kibwe is part of the pack and forced to carry our terrible atrocities. Meanwhile Zuberi, a gorilla living in the same part of Africa, sees his family wiped out by man. When Kibwe and Zuberi’s paths cross, they only have each other in their fight for survival. This thought-provoking tale is beautifully told, and deals with, among other issues, man’s relationship with nature.”
Natasha Harding, The Sun
“This clever and driven story. What a brave novel! It is hunting for big game, which is what a novel should do.”
Ashley Stokes, The Guardian and Times Literary Supplement critic
“In this book Nick Taussig evidences his intelligence, humility and humanity by juxtaposing the lives of two higher primates – one of which writes books. The author also thus renders the barriers we erect between our species and others to protect our sense of uniqueness otiose – or at least calls them (quite rightly) into question. Good research lends insight and texture. Avoidance of grandiose prose renders the text unpretentious and distinctly moorish! Perhaps the world would do well to read and ponder?”
Nicholas Green, author of The Shen by Nature
Claire Armitstead in The Guardian on How animals invaded grown up books.